Canon
Canon, headquartered in Tokyo, is a Japanese company that specializes in imaging and optical products, including cameras, photocopiers and computer printers. Its current name is Canon Inc. (キヤノン株式会社). History The company was founded in 1933 with the name Seiki Kōgaku Kenkyūjo (精機光学研究所, or Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory) by the co-founder Yoshida Gorō (吉田五郎) from Hiroshima and his brother-in-law Uchida Saburō (内田三郎) , funded by Mitarai Takeshi (御手洗毅) , a close friend of Uchida. Its original purpose was to research into the development of quality cameras. Therefore Yoshida Gorō disassembled an original Leica II and studied it mindfully. In June 1934 they released their first camera, the Kwanon (pronounced kannon), named after the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy of the same name (観音, カンオン; in Chinese Guān Yīn). Later it became the "Hansa Canon", the company's first commercial camera. The following year the camera's name was changed to the less overtly religious Canon (キャノン, pronounced kyanon). The company changed its name to Canon Camera in 1947, and to Canon in 1969. The company's earliest cameras derived much from the design of the Leica threadmount rangefinder cameras; concerns about patents, as well as ignorance of the precise specification of the Leica thread mount, kept these earliest Canon cameras distinctive. Copies only came after the war, but Seiki Kōgaku swiftly equipped postwar Canon bodies with a combined viewfinder / rangefinder with three-way switchable magnification (50mm, 100mm, and rangefinder only). Other innovations followed. Seiki Kōgaku at first did not have its own optical factory, so it used lenses made by Nikon, but it soon started to make its own lenses under the Serenar brand (later renamed Canon). These lenses remain popular even now by users of rangefinder cameras from Canon, Leitz, and so forth. The Serenar 50mm f1.8 of 1951 was an early highlight of that brand. In 1959 The company introduced the Canonflex SLR system. Next big steps in the SLR field were the Canon F-1 of 1971, the Canon EF with automatic exposure based on the shutter priority principle, and the first computerized SLR Canon AE-1 of 1976. In 1986 Canon was the second after Sony introducing a completely electronic still camera without film, the Canon RC-701, which was based on video technology and also the first of these cameras with interchangeable lenses. In 1996 Canon became the benchmark for the new but not very successful film market standard APS by introducing its high quality Canon IXUS camera series. In 2000 it launched its first amateur DSLR Canon EOS D30. Canon's APS SLRs as well as its DSLRs continued to have the Canon EF-mount so that older Canon autofocus lenses are applicable with the newer cameras. Canon started to make its own CMOS image sensors. Digital DSLR EF mount * Canon EOS 1Ds * Canon EOS 1Ds mark II * Canon EOS 1Ds mark III * Canon EOS 1D * Canon EOS 1D mark II * Canon EOS 1D mark II N * Canon EOS 1D mark III * Canon EOS 1D mark IV * Canon EOS 5D * Canon EOS 5D mark II * Canon EOS 7D * Canon EOS 10D * Canon EOS 20D * Canon EOS 20Da * Canon EOS 30D * Canon EOS 40D * Canon EOS 50D * Canon EOS 60D * Canon EOS 300D (Digital Rebel) * Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) * Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi, Canon EOS Kiss Digital X) * Canon EOS 1000D (Digital Rebel XS) * Canon EOS 1100D (Digital Rebel T3) * Canon EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi) * Canon EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i) * Canon EOS 550D (Digital Rebel T2i) * Canon EOS D30 * Canon EOS D60 SV mount * Canon RC-701 * Canon RC-760 Fixed Lens 35mm SLR Fixed lens * Canonex * Canon EX EE * Canon EX Auto R Mount (1959-1963) * Canonflex (May 1959) * Canonflex RP * Canonflex R2000 * Canonflex RM (1962) FL Mount (1964-1969) http://farm1.static.flickr.com/230/458930421_d3e73018fb_t.jpg FX * Canon FX * Canon FP * Canon Pellix * Canon Pellix QL * Canon FT QL * Canon TL QL FD Mount (1970-1990) http://static.flickr.com/65/160103745_af5d76f3bb_t.jpg T80 * Canon EF * Canon F-1 * Canon New F-1 * Canon FTb, Canon FTb QL * Canon FTbn * Canon TX * Canon TLb * Canon A-1 * Canon AE-1 * Canon AE-1 Program * Canon AL-1 * Canon AT-1 * Canon AV-1 * Canon T-50 * Canon T-60 * Canon T-70 * Canon T-80 * Canon T-90 EF Mount (Auto Focus) Canon's EF mount is the widest throat lens mount for modern 35mm-format SLR cameras (film or digital). The distance from flange to film is also quite small, which makes it one of the most adaptable: though AF functions do not work, many users have adapted their EOS bodies to use lenses from Nikon, Contax, Leica, Pentax, and others. * Canon EOS 1 * Canon EOS 1n * Canon EOS 1n RS * Canon EOS 1v * Canon EOS 3 * Canon EOS 5 * Canon EOS 10s * Canon EOS 30 * Canon EOS 50 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/229020641_7c9f93989d_t.jpg EOS 100 * Canon EOS 100 * Canon EOS 300 * Canon EOS 300V * Canon EOS 500 * Canon EOS 500N * Canon EOS 620 * Canon EOS 630 * Canon EOS 650 * Canon EOS 66QD http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1277/3163621681_f071a4c679_t.jpg EOS 1000FN * Canon EOS 1000 * Canon EOS 3000N * Canon EOS A2 * Canon EOS Elan * Canon EOS Elan 2 * Canon EOS Elan 7 * Canon EOS Elan 7e * Canon EOS Elan 7n * Canon EOS Elan 7ne * Canon EOS Rebel * Canon EOS Rebel 2000 * Canon EOS Rebel K2 * Canon EOS Rebel G * Canon EOS Rebel S * Canon EOS Rebel Ti * Canon EOS Rebel T2 * Canon EOS RT EF mount (Manual Focus) * Canon EF-M Lenses for other mounts See Exakta lenses for a couple of 1955 lenses for the Exakta (or Topcon). 35mm rangefinder Interchangeable lens http://static.flickr.com/51/148727743_23870d6408_t.jpg IV sb * Kwanon, prototype model * Hansa Canon * Canon S * Canon NS * Canon S-II * Canon J * Canon JS * Canon J-II * Canon IIA, Canon IIAF, Canon IIAX, Canon IIB, Canon IIC, Canon IID, Canon IID1, Canon IID2, Canon IIF, Canon IIF2, Canon IIS, Canon IIS2 * Canon III * Canon IIIA * Canon IV, Canon IVF, Canon IVS, Canon IVSB, Canon IVSB2 * Canon VT * Canon VT Deluxe * Canon VL * Canon VL2 * Canon L-1 * Canon L-2 * Canon L-3 * Canon VIL * Canon VIT * Canon P * Canon 7 * Canon 7s * Canon 7sZ And also screwmount lenses for the above (or other bodies with an appropriate lensmount). Canon also made the 25/3.5 in Contax (or Nikon S) mount. Fixed lens http://static.flickr.com/33/44707191_ccc9fe106d_t.jpg GIII QL 17 * Canon A35F * Canon A35 Datelux * Canon Canonet * Canon Canonet Junior * Canon Canonet S * Canon Canonet QL 17 * Canon Canonet QL 17 New * Canon Canonet QL 17-L New * Canon Canonet QL 17 GIII * Canon Canonet QL 19 * Canon Canonet QL 19E * Canon Canonet QL 19 New * Canon Canonet QL 19 GIII * Canon Canonet QL 25 * Canon Canonet 28 * Canon Canonet 28 New * Canon Canodate E * Canon Canodate E-N * Canon Datematic 35mm compact http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/458902622_b30c207dbb_t.jpg AF35 MII * Canon MC Micro-compact series * Canon LA 10/20 * Canon Sure Shot/Prima/Autoboy series * Canon Snappy series * Canon Prima series 35mm half frame * Canon Demi (offered in four color variants) * Canon Demi C * Canon Demi S * Canon Demi EE17 * Canon Demi EE28 * Canon Demi Rapid * Canon Dial 35 * Canon Dial 35-2 * Canon Dial Rapid APS film SLR http://static.flickr.com/74/157918021_354a5d0d30_t.jpg IX * Canon IX (for all 35mm-AF-SLR-lenses) * Canon IX 7 / Canon IX Lite (for all 35mm-AF-SLR-lenses) Compact * Canon IXUS APS series. (US: Elph, JAP: IXY) (E.g. Canon IXUS, Canon IXUS II, Canon Elph 370Z) Regular 8mm Film *Cine 8-T *Cine Canonet 8 *Cine Zoom 512 *Motor Zoom 8 EEE *Reflex Zoom 8 *Reflex Zoom 8-2 *Reflex Zoom 8-3 Super 8mm Film http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/2866924003_b587ee2c8c_t.jpg auto zoom 518 *AF 514 XL-S *AF 310 XL *AF 310 XL-S *Auto Zoom 318 M *Auto Zoom 512 Xl Electronic *Auto Zoom 518 Super 8 *Auto Zoom 518 SV *Auto Zoom 814 Electronic *Auto Zoom 814 Super 8 *Auto Zoom 1014 Electronic *Auto Zoom 1218 Super 8 *Auto Zoom 2018 Electronic (prototype) *Zoom 250 Super 8 *Zoom 318 Super 8 *Zoom 518 Super 8 *Zoom DS-8 (double super 8mm camera) *310 XL *312 XL-S *514 XL *514 XL-S *814 XL Electronic *814 XL-S *1014 XL-S Single 8mm Film *Single 8 518 *Single 8 518 SV 16mm Film *Scoopic 16 *Sound Scoopic 100 *Sound Scoopic 200 *Sound Scoopic 200S (200SE is the same but has viewfinder markings for TV) *Sound Scoopic 200S10 *Sound Scoopic 16M *Sound Scoopic 16MN *Sound Scoopic 16MS *Systema Sound 16 110 film http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3715286951_bd647a870b_t.jpg 110 ED * Canon 110 E * Canon 110 ED * Canon 110 ED20 126 film * Canomatic C30 * Canomatic M70 120 film The Seica (4.5×6) coupled-rangefinder folding camera has a SEIKI-KOGAKU engraving and it was perhaps a prototype made by Canon's predecessor. References Links In English: * Canon's site * Canon Rangefinder Lens and Canon Rangefinder Camera Price & Information Guide * Canon Camera Museum * Canon lens production, part I and part II and part III on YouTube * Canon manuals from EOS to rangefinders, English, PDF at www.orphancameras.com * List of all Canon film cameras, their photos, descriptions and estimate prices at CollectiBlend.com * Canon PDF Camera Manuals : Photo-Manuals.com by Ben Squire * Canon instruction manuals - English at Mike Butkus' www.orphancameras.com site * The A Team an article about the SLR A models, AE-1, AT-1, A-1, AV-1 and AE-1 Program at Classic Cameras by RaúlM. In French: * Canon page at Collection G. Even's site * Many Canon Cameras and user manuals at www.collection-appareils.fr In Spanish: * Manual Camera Utilizando las Canon FD y otras cámaras clásicas Category: Japanese camera makers Category: Japanese lens makers Category: sensor makers *